Role of SIRT1 in hematologic malignancies

Abstract

Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is a protein deacetylase, which regulates various physiological activities by deacetylating different protein substrates. An increasing number of studies have revealed critical roles of SIRT1 in different aspects of cancers including metabolism, proliferation, genomic instability, and chemotherapy resistance. Depending on the protein targets in a certain oncogenic context, SIRT1 may play a unique role in each individual blood cancer subtype. Our previous work showed that activation of SIRT1 in primitive leukemia cells of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) promotes disease maintenance. On the other hand, an SIRT1 agonist was shown to disrupt maintenance of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) stem cells and holds promise as a potential therapeutic approach. Herein, we present a concise summary of the different functions of SIRT1 in hematologic malignancies.

Keywords: Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1); Hematologic malignancy; Stem cell; Drug resistance.

Fig. 1

Primary structure of seven mammalian sirtuins (SIRTs) NAD: nicotinamide; aa: amino acids

Fig. 2

Representative targets of SIRT1 in hematologic malignancies SIRT1 enhances target activity (labeled in brown), promoting hematologic malignancies; SIRT1 decreases target activity (labeled in grey), promoting hematologic malignancies; SIRT1 enhances target activity (labeled in blue), suppressing hematologic malignancies. AML, acute myeloid leukemia; CML, chronic myelogenous leukemia; LSC, leukemia stem cell; MLL-r, mixed-lineage leukemia-rearranged; MDS, myelodysplastic syndrome; HSPC, hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell; ALL, acute lymphoblastic leukemia; cHL, classical Hodgkin lymphoma; DLBCL, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; PEL, primary effusion lymphoma